Return to Zero
by Skittytales
Summary: DISCONTINUED PERMANENTLY
1. Prolouge

_Yay, first upload! Woo, and all that other crap. Heh. Alright, so this will be a Vocaloid story based on several different songs - Return to Zero, Ooze Out, Black Rock Shooter, and a little bit of Weekday(Cloudy). This is pretty much my own twisted invention, and is only loosely based on the songs. Enjoy, and please harshly critique it, I don't mind~_

**Prologue**

Yowane Haku - Fortune Teller. She could tell a completely accurate fortune for up to twelve years into the future for the price of only five dollars. At least, that was what the sign on the tent read. Considering the shady part of town in which the carnival was located, and the fact that she worked for said traveling carnival, the actuality in this was probably slim.

But anything's possible.

That is what three men tried to convince themselves as they stepped into the tent, glancing warily behind them at the sleek black limo waiting in the road.

The inside of this tent was dimly lit by a few candles around a table in the center, traditional of a fortune teller. Surprisingly enough, no milky crystal ball sat on a pedestal in the center of the table. What did sift on the table was a tall, thin woman that was apparently Yowane Haku. She was clothed in a pitch black Kimono with purple trim that almost exactly matched the backdrop of tent behind her. Her hair, long and silvery, was tied by a large black and purple striped bow that must have been at least twice the width of the woman. Her eyes were a deep ruby, and although she appeared to be smiling in the dim light, it looked as though she was only smiling with her mouth, for a deep sadness penetrated the smile through her eyes.

She slid off the table to stand before the three men. "Hello there," she said in a low, gentle voice. "I assume you came to have your fotune told?" Without waiting for the men to answer, she swept her hand over the table. "Sit down."

The three glanced at each other suspiciously, then crouched around the table. Haku shook her head. "I can't read all three of your fortunes at once."

"You're only reading mine," said the man in the middle. He had long black hair pulled into thin spikes at the back of his head. "The other two are my bodyguards."

"Alright then," Haku seemed satisfied with this answer. She sat on her end of the table on a large, dark red cushion, placed both hands on the table, and stared straight ahead at the man. "Is there something specific you wish to know? Any particular year?"

"Yes," he replied smoothly. "I want to know what year the war will end, which side will win, and how."

Haku smirked. "A man who knows exactly what he wants, I see. Very well then." She took the man's right hand and placed it in the center of the table with her hand on top of it. Her eyes closed for several seconds, then snapped open. They were solid white, and glowed faintly in the dim light. At the same time, her long silvery hair began to flow around her in a non existing wind. The whole effect was rather impressive, but it did not prove whether or not she was a fraud. After all, with technology being what it was these days, it could simply be effects.

"In seven years, the end of the war will come," she said in a voice that was, if possible, even more calm than her normal tone. "It will end, but the outcome at this time is impossible to forsee. It is shifting continuously - now one side, now another. This is something that will not be decided until the time when it happens."

The man made to pull back, thoroughly disappointed. Haku gripped his hand tighter, however, forcing him to stay in place. "But what I can see is how the war will be ended. Whichever side may see victory will only claim it through the power of the one known as the Black Rock Shooter. The power to control the Black Rock Shooter currently rests in the power of a young girl who has not yet taken a side in this war."

"Who is this girl?" the man asked, leaning forward, eagerly awaiting the answer.

"A girl of twelve years, with long green hair...she is called Miku," Haku answered.

"And what if she were to die?" he persisted.

"The war would be decided on strength alone, as the Black Rock Shooter would not be called."

"Thank you. That's all we needed to know," the man said, pulling his hand off the table at last.

"You're very welcome," Haku answered as her hair fell back into place and her eyes re-assumed their original color. "That will be ten dollars, please."

"Ten?" the man cried, standing up and glaring at her. "The sign said five dollars!"

"Well," Haku said, examining one lavender-nailed hand, "That's what you get for asking extra questions in the middle of the session! Pay up."

The man dug ten dollars out of his pocket, grumbling openly. Haku placed them on the table and smiled at the men, a smile that once again was performed only with her mouth.

"Oh, and just in case you think I'm a fraud," Haku said as the men turned to go. "The one on the left better watch out."

The men frowned at her, then exited the tent.

"What a load of crap," one of the bodyguards said mornfully, scraping at the dirt with his shoe. "She didn't even tell us which side of the war is going to win!"

"Who the hell is the Black Rock Shooter anyway?" said the other.

"I don't know," the man said, striding towards the limo. "And what did she mean, the one on the left...?" His voice trailed off as a car came flying down the road out of nowhere, smashing into the bodyguard standing on the left side of his limo. The car raced down the street and out of sight as the man's body was thrown into the air, and landed back on the pavement with a sickening crunch.

Several long seconds passed, in which the two remaining men simply stared down at the body. Then, at the same moment, both jumped into the car as it sped away, leaving the body on the side of the highway.


	2. Chapter One

_Argh. I don't really like this chapter as much as the Prologue, but I finally got it written. Not much to say, really. Again, please read and review, and please critique it well._

**Chapter One**

The Kagamine family was a highly respected family that had lived in their area for as many generations as anyone could count. The current family made their residence on the top of a high hill overlooking the rest of their town, in a large, extravagant mansion. Needless to say, the family was very rich. They were not particularly reluctant to share their wealth, however. Any charity to come knocking on the door could expect a large and very gracious donation. In fact, anyone in need of serious financial help could expect some sort of assistance from the Kagamine family. As such, they were very well known, and when Mr. Kagamine's wife was declared pregnant with twins, the entire town appeared to give her their congratulations.

And so, the Kagamine family was blessed with twins, one boy and one girl. It was almost a blessing that they were of opposite genders as well, for otherwise they would have been completely indistinguishable from one another. The boy was named Len and the girl Rin, which became something of a joke when it was discovered that Rin was right-handed and Len left-handed.

And so, the two children grew into two great assets to the Kagamine family. Rin had exceptional skill in sports - she was strong, athletic, and very outgoing. Len, on the other hand, had taken the opposite route - he was incredibly smart, and spent most of his time reading. As such, the two would often get into fights about their differences, but even still, the two became very close, more like best friends that brother and sister.

Kagamine Rin and Len were born in the year 2001. They were eight when the war began, and eight when they discovered just how greatly it would affect their lives.

~*~

A typical Saturday evening at the Kagamine household. Rin, ushered inside by her father after it had gotten dark, was lying on the floor, watching the news with her father, who sat behind her on the couch. Curled up in a large armchair in the corner was Len, avidly reading a book.

"A group of protestors has gathered outside of the building," a woman with a microphone was saying on the news, "And they claim to have nuclear weapons, although their purpose is as of now unknown."

"Dad?" Rin said, turning to face her father. "What are nucular weapons?"

"Nu-cle-ar," Len corrected, eyes still on his book, "Nuclear, not nucular."

"Right, sure..." Rin said, waving an uncaring hand in his direction. "What are nuclear weapons, then?"

"Weapons of mass destruction," her father answered. "Basically, they're bombs, but instead of just blowing people up, they let out radiation that makes people sick too. It's not good."

"Why are they even rioting in the first place?" Len asked, now putting down his book and moving to the couch to join the conversation.

Mr. Kagamine sighed. "Well, we're not entirely sure, but what I've heard is that China is trying to rise up against us and retake Japan."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Rin cried, looking disgusted.

"Well, it does kind of make sense that they'd want to, but still..." Len said.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, making the two twins jump. "I'll get it," their mother said as she walked quickly to the door and looked through the peephole at the people outside. Her face seemed to turn a little pale, and she quickly motioned to Mr. Kagamine.

He stood up. "Rin, Len, go to your rooms," he said in a quiet voice, striding over to his wife. Rin and Len glanced at each other, then sprinted up the stairs. At the last second, Rin turned to see three tall men stepping into the living room, her parents following behind them, both looking nervous.

When they reached the top of the steps, the twins stopped and sat down beside the railing. They were just out of sight, but close enough to hear the conversation below. Their parents should have known by now that the two were far too curious to ever go to their rooms at a time like this.

"What are they saying?" Rin hissed to Len, who was closer to the stairs and therefore could hear better.

"Hang on," he whispered. He could only catch small snippets of the conversation, but that seemed to be all he needed to piece together what they were talking about.

"They're with the people in that riot on TV!" he hissed to Rin, whose eyes widened. "It sounds like they're the ones running the whole thing!"

"What do they want?" Rin asked, trembling slightly.

"They want Mom and Dad to give them more money for weapons!" Len hissed. "But Dad said no...I wonder-"

_Bang! _A shot rang through the house, bringing tears to the eyes of both twins and almost sending Len into a freefall down the stairs. _Bang! _Another gunshot, and both knew without a doubt that their parents must now be dead. Silently, both stood up and scrambled down the hallway to a wide window facing the backyard.

"We can't let them find us!" Rin whispered, and Len nodded. "Alright, listen. We have to jump. Once we're out, start running. Head for the woods. And don't stop for anything! If we stop, we both die. If we don't, at least one of us might live. Both, if we're lucky."

Len nodded again, blinking away the tears that came with the thought he might never see Rin again. She flung her arms around him, and he knew that she was crying as well. And then the window was unlatched, and suddenly they were out in the crisp night air, and he was running through the woods, dodging trees and crashing through bushes, Rin streaking along beside him.

Shouts came from behind, and both twins increased their pace as the three men chased after them. Rin turned quickly to see how close they were, and suddenly she was gone.

Len turned in alarm to see her lying on the ground several yards behind him, knocked unconscious by a large tree branch. His first instinct was to run back to her side, but her own words echoed in his head. _Don't stop for anything! _Swallowing his tears, he turned and fled through the trees, his legs slowly growing numb from the effort of running so fast.

He almost didn't realize it when he hit the ground. Desperately, he tried to push himself upright once more, but his legs had at last run out of energy, and he collapsed again on the hard earth, and barely felt himself slipping into unconsciousness.


	3. Chapter Two

_Oh, geez, I am so incredibly sorry to my (very few) fans for not posting this earlier! There was just a ton of crap going on, and I didn't have time, and whatnot...  
But you don't wanna listen to me rant, I'm sure. So, without further ado, I give you Chapter Two~_

**Chapter Two**

The Hatsune family was a little known, keep-to-themselves family that had lived in their area for about three years, ever since Mr. Hatsune was able to get a job in the town. The family made their residence in the suburbs of the town, with the prefect view to gaze up at the Kagamine mansion. Needless to say, the family was less that middle class. It was not due to lack of skill, or intelligence, that the Hatsune family never seemed to have enough money. It was because of their daughter, or at least it seemed to be.

The Hatsune family had a beautiful girl named Miku, who was most well-known wherever she went for having the most extravagant hair anyone had ever seen. It was a pale, sea-green, and reached almost to her knees in two side ponytails. Although the first thing people noticed about Miku was always her hair, the second was nearly always her voice. Miku had been blessed with an incredible singing voice, and had an equally incredible passion for singing. Part of the reason Miku had been so willing to move to this town was that it harbored a particularly prestigious school of music that, although it was far too expensive for her family, Miku hoped to be able to enter through scholarships one day.

There was, however, one major problem with Miku. And that was that she seemed to attract bad luck. Very, very bad luck. The kind of accidents that happened to her were the kind of accident most people think about happening to other people, but never to anyone you know; the kind of things that happen to characters in movies, or cartoons. Construction sites blew up around her, bridges collapsed, objects came flying out of tenth-story windows.

This was the most evident reason for the Hatsune family's money problem. Due to the attraction of accidents around Miku, hospital bills were not uncommon to her family. Stuck paying for their daughter's medical attention, there was rarely enough money left over for much else.

Miku Hatsune was twelve when the war began, born four years before Rin and Len Kagamine, although this war would affect her life just as much, if not more.

~*~

The door to the Hatsune's house was flung open as Miku stepped inside, bookbag slung over one shoulder, and announced loudly, "I'm ho-ome!"

No response. This was not entirely unusual, however. The lack of money in the household usually had both of Miku's parents working all kinds of odd hours, and it was typical for her to arrive home from school long before either of them. Heaving a heavy sigh, Miku dumped the contents of her bookbag onto the kitchen table before flopping glumly into one of the chairs. Not that she wasn't used to it, but it still got rather lonely all day, sitting alone, with nothing to do but homework.

A sudden clank from one of the rooms beyond the kitchen made Miku jump nearly out of her skin. Her head whipped around, staring nervously through the living room, and the hallway beyond that led to her parents' room. Suddenly, she had a sensation of dread that suggested she was not, after all, alone in the house.

Very slowly, Miku stood up and moved through the living room and down the hallway to peek into the dark bedroom. There was something...off about it. Something had disrupted the usual order of the bedroom ever so slightly. What it was, she did not know, but it was definitely something. Figuring that it was better to find out that stand in the dark nervously, Miku reached one hand slowly into the dark room, and flipped the light switch.

Absolutely nothing happened. The room appeared the same as it always did. Figuring that it had simply been her imagination, Miku pushed the door open and stepped boldly into the room. As she did so, four things happened in very close succession that left Miku more than a little confused.

The first was that her foot collided with something very small and thin, perhaps a wire, and there was a shrill beep from somewhere in the room.

The second thing was the appearance of a man, dressed entirely in black, who crashed through a window across from her. Miku had never seen this man in her life, although he looked rather like the kind of secret agents often depicted on TV.

The third was the appearance of another person, this time a tall woman, who pushed her way hurriedly through the door and shoved Miku behind her protectively. Again, Miku had never before met this woman, at least not as far as she could tell. The woman was tall, with two long, black pigtails styled much like Miku's own hair. What was more, the woman had an immense, black gun attached over one arm, unlike any weapon Miku had ever seen.

The fourth thing to happen was the man who had come flying through her window pulled out a gun. And began to shoot at Miku.

Miku shrieked and ducked instinctively, but the sound of several loud pings forced her head back up again. The woman standing in front of her had deflected the bullets with the side of her immense gun. As Miku watched, the woman now aimed her gun at the man, and pulled the trigger.

An enormous, smoking black rock flew out of the woman's gun and dug itself into the ground, crushing the man, and taking a good portion of the floor with it.

Miku stared blankly at the rock, completely at a loss for words. Or thoughts, for that matter. This turn of events was so sudden that it had left her in a state of shock. She barely even reacted as the woman grabbed her by the arm and lifted her to her feet. She was surprisingly gentle, despite her somewhat rough appearance.

"Come on, he have to leave," the woman said in a low voice, ushering Miku out of the room. Miku simply nodded, still wide-eyed and unable to respond. She barely even registered what was happening as she was led down her front lawn and into the sidecar of a sleek, black motorcycle.

In fact, by the time Miku even had the slightest coherent thought, they were so far away from any kind of civilization that it was impossible to tell where they were anymore.

"Er…I didn't catch…I mean…who are you?" Miku stuttered, barely audible over the rumble of the motorcycle.

The woman glanced down quickly at her before responding. "You don't know yet?" Miku shook her head blankly. "I'm the Black Rock Shooter."

The name did not ring a bell with Miku, although it was apparent that this Black Rock Shooter had expected it to. There was another long, tense moment, and then Miku spoke again.

"Can I…just call you Shooter?"

~*~

_Well, that could have been better. At least, I think so. Alright, so basically the reason that this took so long is that my computer was slowly eating its own memory (don't ask), so I had to keep retyping it. Finally, i just gave up on that, and waited for us to get a new computer. Didn't realize it would take this long!  
As always, please give as harsh critique as you feel necessary, and thanks for readin'_


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